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The newly released study, Spanking and Child Development Across the First Decade of Life published by the American Academy of Paediatrics, found that smacking children up to the age of 5 predicted negative outcomes for children by age 9. In particular, those negative outcomes are more "externalising behaviour" (this means outward expressions of problematic behaviour like aggression) and less "receptive vocabulary" ( this means the words that can be understood by a child but not necessarily expressed in speech or writing) . Read full article

Today I read about the short shorts dad. A Utah father tired of his daughter wearing “skimpy” shorts decided to turn the tables on her by cutting up a pair of jeans, and going out on family night in his own pair of “skimpy” shorts. The mom shared the photo of dad in shorts on her blog and of course the story went viral. Dude, what about talking to your kid? Read full article

Today the Royal Australasian College of Physicians announced they are calling for law reform on the physical punishment of children - they are also urging parents and caregivers to consider alternatives to smacking. I say - good. And I hope the Children's Commissioner gets behind this initiative. We have asked the Commissioner for comments and hope to hear from her later today - I will update this post. Read full article

Follow the advice of "fake it 'til you make it" or just "be positive", and you may end up oozing a kind of "toxic insincerity" says Dr. Barbara Fredrickson, Professor of Psychology and specialist investigator of positive emotions and psychophysiology at the University of North Carolina. Dr. Fredrickson was speaking at a workshop that was part of the Young Minds conference held last week at Darling Harbour in Sydney. Teaching the benefits of positivity, Dr. Fredrickson says instead of ‘thinking positive’, we should aim to identify the experiences and contexts that give us a positive emotion, and then repeat them. Research indicates that experiencing positive and negative emotions in about a 3-to-1 ratio, has the potential to enhance your relationships, improve your health, relieve depression, and broaden your mind. Read full article

Can there ever be enough articles about The Slap, or The Smack? Channel 9 show 60 Minutes re-ignited an ongoing conversation adults are having in Australia about whether it is okay to use corporal punishment with children. And today on Channel 9 show Mornings, I was asked about smacking ...I think it is topical given that the Australian government has announced its intention to create an Australian Children’s Commissioner whose important role will include the consultation of children about their human rights and other issues affecting their wellbeing in Australia. Read full article

Last week, a Twitter contact shared one of the most horrific videos I have seen in a long time. It was so traumatic that I couldn't watch much more than a few minutes. I didn't retweet it because the vision was so violent that I thought it required a warning. I was also unsure about its origin because the video was dated 2004 yet seemed to have just hit the internet that day. Since then, the video has gone viral. Read full article

While the shift towards shared parenting is real, a recent study found “seventy-five percent of men worry that their jobs prevent them from having the time to be the kind of dads they want to be.” And when asked what single change would make the greatest difference in their ability to juggle work and family life, fathers named workplace flexibility as their top demand. The research shows that fathers are right to want to spend more time with their children. Read full article

"No one deserves to be hit, let alone a child." "That's just a platitude, a new age bullshit platitude. You need to teach a child discipline and sometimes the discipline has to be physical. That's how we learn what is acceptable and what is not." This conversation from Christos Tsiolkas's novel "The Slap", now a television series which premiered on ABC TV this week, reflects the Australian ambivalence about hitting children. The debate is not about whether children require discipline. They clearly do... Read full article

Oliver James is a UK-based clinical child psychologist who has recently written about a technique he calls ‘love bombing’ to help children overcome fears and anxieties that may be causing behavioural problems ... James says that this technique can solve many common behavioural problems in children, giving them a feeling of security so that many of the fears and anxieties causing their behaviour can be allayed. Read full article

On Channel 7's The Morning Show 3rd march 2011, Yvette Vignando shared her views on the actions of some parents who have published online video or photos of themselves disciplining their children. Some of the stories are quite disturbing. View Yvette talking about the limits of what mum bloggers and dad bloggers share online in this video post. View The Morning Show segment. Read full article